


we’re just alike, hey (ain’t we dad)

by TheTinyTortoise



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 09:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13901184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTinyTortoise/pseuds/TheTinyTortoise
Summary: Once, fed up with all of the male posturing and straight up bitching going on in the Winchester household, Dean had griped at Sam “You know, the reason you and Dad fight so damn much is because you’re too much alike!”





	we’re just alike, hey (ain’t we dad)

Once, fed up with all of the male posturing and straight up bitching going on in the Winchester household, Dean had griped at Sam “You know, the reason you and Dad fight so damn much is because you’re too much alike!”

Sam had gaped at him, and Eustachia, perched on his shoulder as an irritable red squirrel, had nearly tumbled right off. “What?” She’d sputtered as she regained her balance. “Are you crazy?”

“We’re nothing alike,” Sam had snapped, offended to his very core. With a huff and a flip of that ridiculous Justin Bieber hair of his, he’d stomped off with all of the thirteen year old sass he possessed. Dean had watched him go with raised eyebrows.

He’d glanced down at Bennie, who was watching the show just as dryly. She’d let out a yip of laughter when John stomped back into the motel room from wherever he’d stormed off to, Heracleia at his shoulder. With the exact same belligerent gait as the one Sam had just displayed, he’d stormed towards the room Sam had retreated to. Within moments, the shouting had begun anew.

“Oh, yeah,” Bennie had drawled. “They’re nothing alike.”  
                    ————-  
Years later, when Dean came home and saw that look on Sam’s face, he knew something was up. Bennie knew what had happened instantly. She loped right over to where Eustachia was perched on the counter with shiny black feathers and a hooked beak. Paws up on the counter, she gave Eustachia a gentle nudge with her nose.

Dean looked between Sam and Eustachia and realized what the reason for the hangdog expression on Sam’s face was too. Whatever look crossed his own face made Sam blink. “You’re not-oh.” He was cut off by Dean’s slightly strangled hug. After a few moments, he startled to wriggle and grunt irritably in Dean’s ear, but Dean didn’t let go. He’s all grown up, Dean thought to himself. Yet he still couldn’t quite believe it, feeling the coltlike skinniness within his arms.

He finally released Sam with a rough little push and a cough in his throat. “Congrats,” he grunted. Bennie trotted over, nails clicking on the kitchen linoleum, and nudged his hand with her cold wet nose.

“You’re not…..mad?” Sam asked.

Bennie and Dean glanced at each other. “Mad?”

Eustachia picked something up from the counter in her beak and flapped to Sam’s shoulder. Sam passed the envelope to Dean. When Dean unfolded the letter within, the first thing he saw was “Congratulations!”  
“Sam,” Bennie said slowly.

Dean kept reading. “On the behalf of the faculty and staff of Stanford University, we are pleased to offer you admission for the 2001 school year….”

Dean looked up. “You applied?” He hadn’t known even that.

Eustachia puffed up her feathers. “We didn’t think it could hurt….”

“And they offered a full ride,” Sam blurted.

Bennie yelped with surprise. “A full ride?” She sunk her teeth into Dean’s leg after a moment.

“Jesus! Ouch!” Dean cried. “The hell was that for?”

“He got a full ride, you ass! Say something!” She subsided slightly, ears pricking up as she gazed at Sam. “Are you going to take it?”

“Of course not,” Dean said.

Sam stayed quiet.

“Sam.”

“Dean, I got a free ride. How can I not take it?”

“What about Dad?” What about me, Dean thought.  
  
Eustachia cawed. “We don’t want to live like this forever,” she said. “Never settling down, killing stuff, not being normal…..we want to be like everyone else.”

“The two of you will never be normal,” Bennie teased.

Eustachia clacked her beak at her. “We want to try.”

“Dad’s not gonna like it,” Dean warned.

“Dad’s not gonna like what?”

Eustachia cawed in surprise, and Bennie hunched against Dean’s leg. John was standing in the doorway, kicking off his boots. Heracleia swooped off of his shoulder and landed on the counter. Her eyes strayed towards the letter in Dean’s hand but she said nothing.

Dean looked at Sam, who swallowed. “Eustachia settled,”

John looked up sharply. “Well?” He said after a moment. “Let’s see.”

Bennie growled softly.

Eustachia ruffled her feathers, shifting from foot to foot on Sam’s shoulder. John’s eyes took her in thoughtfully.

“She’s a raven,” Sam said. “We’re not sure which type yet.”

John nodded. “So not a canine, like Bennie.” Like Aimon, Dean thought. The ghost of Mary and her malamute seemed to linger in the air. Dean knew that John had been hoping that Eustachia would settle as a canine just like Bennie had. Dean, however, had always had his own private doubts. Sam had never been a follower in any shape or form.

Bennie’s growls rose in volume, and Dean nudged her with his heel.

“She’s small,” John said, as if Eustachia didn’t take up Sam’s whole shoulder. “But her beak and talons look strong. She’ll make a decent hunting daemon.”

Dean and Sam looked at each other for a millisecond. It was just a flicker of a glance, but John’s eyes were as sharp as Heracleia’s, and they missed nothing. “Boys?”

Sam’s jaw clenched, and Eustachia’s claws tightened around his shoulder until it had to be painful. “I got an acceptance letter in the mail,” Sam gritted out.

“Acceptance letter?”

“From college,” Sam said. “Stanford.”

Heracleia made a slight noise in her throat, and Dean passed over the letter. She began reading it intently. John showed no such interest. He merely shrugged. “Great. Was that all?” He shot a Look Dean’s way, as if to chasten him for wasting his time with something so unimportant. Bennie growled again, and Dean didn’t even bother to shush her this time.

“He’s gonna go, Dad,” he said.

That caught John’s attention. He frowned at Sam. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

That was exactly the wrong thing to say. Eustachia’s feathers puffed up until she was nearly twice her new size. “I’m going,” Sam snapped, “whether you like it or not.”

John snorted, seemingly casual, but Dean could sense the anger rising under his skin. Heracleia flapped over to him, abandoning the letter, and he fisted a hand in her feathers. “And how are we going to pay for that, huh?”

“I got a full ride!”

“Doesn’t matter. I need you here with me and Dean.”

“Doing what?” Sam shouted. “Spinning our wheels? How long have we been looking for the thing that killed Mom, with nothing to show for it?”

Heracleia screeched. Bennie flinched against Dean’s leg. It wasn’t often that Heracleia spoke these days. She’d been quiet and somber ever since Aimon had burnt up.

“Don’t you ever-“ John began, low. His face started going red, and he took a single step Sam’s way. Dean inched a step or two between them, Bennie at his side with her hackles up.

“It’s the truth!” Sam hissed. Eustachia was shaking on his shoulder, but neither of them showed any signs of backing down. “Mom’s not coming back. This stupid quest isn’t going to bring her back!”

“You think so?” John snapped. “Then go. Get out.”

Sam froze. “W-what?”

“No one’s keeping you here,” John said. “You’re eighteen. You’re an adult. If you want to go, go. Just know that if you walk out that door you will never be welcome back here.”

“Heracleia!” Bennie cried, looking desperately at the eagle hunched on John’s shoulder just like Eustachia was on Sam’s. Heracleia said nothing, turning her face away.

“Fine,” Sam said weakly. Then his face flushed with anger and he tossed his head. “Fine!”

He turned on his heel and stormed out of the motel room. Bennie let out a cry that Dean felt in his own chest. She raced after Sam and Eustachia, not stopping to wait for Dean.

John grabbed Dean’s arm as he passed him out the door. “Go after him,” he said. “Talk him out of this nonsense.”

“Dad,” Dean said. The distance between him and Bennie started to ache, but he gritted his teeth against it.“Would it be so bad to just let him go? Just for four years?”

John’s face hardened. “Don’t you start, too.”  
He gave Dean a rough push towards the door. “Go on. Catch him before he gets too far.”

Sam was stalking down the sidewalk, Bennie panting at his heels, when Dean caught up with them. He buried his hand in Bennie’s fur, letting the contact soothe the ache of their strained bond. Sam ignored that he was even there, eyes fixed stubbornly on the horizon.

“Sam, he didn’t mean it,” Dean said.

“Sure sounded like he did. ‘Get out’ is pretty clear.” Sam snapped. Eustachia clicked her beak angrily.

“Look, can we do this another day? Eustachia settled-we need to celebrate. Come back and I’ll let you have a beer. And you can pick what channel we watch.” Dean said desperately.

Sam stopped and spun around. “Dean!” He snapped. Then his face softened. “I know you want to help, but I’m not a kid anymore. Sneaking me some beer isn’t going to make me change my mind.”

Bennie whined.

“I’m going to Stanford,” Sam said. “Whether he likes it or not. Neither he or you can stop me.”

“Then go,” Dean said. He felt his heart crack in his chest, and Bennie let out a horrible whimper. Eustachia’s feathers ruffled with surprise and perhaps betrayal. “But at least come back first. School doesn’t start until the fall. Stay until then.”

Sam’s hands clenched into fists. Then he sighed. “Will you still give me that beer?”

Dean didn’t laugh.

Sam glanced towards Eustachia and smoothed a hand down her feathers. “You know, I wish she was a dog, too,” he said quietly. “I wish she was like Bennie, or Aimon.” Bennie didn’t even bother with her customary shout of ‘not a dog!’ “Because that way we wouldn’t be anything like him.”

Eustachia made a quiet, wounded sound. Dean felt suddenly raw, being exposed to such a private moment. “I couldn’t help it,” she whispered. “This is who we are.”

“I know,” Sam said. “You’re perfect. There’s nothing wrong with us.” He looked at Dean, daring him to say otherwise.

Dean said nothing.

Sam took a deep breath, fingers clenched in Eustachia’s feathers. Then he lifted his chin proudly. “Let’s go back,” he said.

Dean stood back with Bennie for a moment, watching the pair of them stalk towards the motel room. From behind, their silhouette looked almost exactly like John and Heracleia’s.

“They’re both just too damn stubborn,” he murmured, resting his hand in Bennie’s hand and soaking in her warmth and comfort. She nudged his knee soothingly with her nose.

It was a long time before they were able to bring themselves to walk back, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Dean’s daemon, Bennie, is a coyote. Her name is short for Benedictine. She looks something like this:  
> http://www.nhptv.org/wild/images/coyotenps5.jpg
> 
> Sam’s daemon, Eustachia, is a raven. She’s named after St. Eustace, a patron saint of hunters. She looks something like this: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/dt-petpassion/blog/uploads/2010/04/corvo.jpg
> 
> John’s daemon, Heracleia, is a bald eagle. She looks something like this: https://fthmb.tqn.com/6UFyr40xmvDSaNfnD0NS8Jorvog=/768x0/filters:no_upscale()/bald-eagle-56a27c8a5f9b58b7d0cb3737.jpg


End file.
